Page 109 of Shattered Veil
“Aye. I’ll ask her when we’re ready.”
“You’ve done background checks and dug into her past?” Lachlan scoffs. “Everyone’s got secrets and skeletons. Katya knows my past sins.” He looks up, his eyes blinking, like he’s running through all the people he killed.
It’s a fucking encyclopedia.
“I have all I need to know about Ella. I did more digging, however, on her ex. The prick who abused her,” I say, tasting acid on my tongue and rage in my veins.
“Yeah? Who is he? I’ll kill him after I kill her father for you.” He shrugs. “Or before. Dealer’s choice.”
“Down boy. I sent Snow to Tokyo. Shane is tracking all his coding activity and his postings to the dark web.” A thought comes to me. “What if you just torture him at the black site until he gives me the password to his online vault? We can threaten to hand him over to the FBI.”
Even though I’m sure he fears the feral cyber community more than the Feds. They’re still recovering from his holiday stunt. That, and I’ve impregnated his daughter. I have a ton of leverage over this man.
At the same time, getting Ella pregnantandfalling head over heels for her throws a wrench in any plans I have to hurt Snow. In any capacity.
“I’m not sure the level of punishment is up to you,” Lachlan says, rubbing his chin.
I wish that weren’t true, but it is. “I’ll speak to Kieran,” I say regardless.
“The ex. Give me a name. I’ll pick him up and—”
“He’s a cop, Lachlan.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “And not justanycop.”
“Who?”
“Michael Brennan.” My hands curl into tight fists of fury.
“Riordan’s informant?”
“He used his middle name with Ella. She knows him as Wesley.” I watch Ella with Lia. “There aren’t two Michael Wesley Brennans on the force. I checked the records, hoping there was. So yeah. The one and only.”
“What did he do to her?” Lachlan cracks his knuckles.
“All those tattoos you see on her arms and legs cover his sins,” I say with murderous thoughts running through me.
Never mind me, Lachlan’s neck turns that shade of red when he’s about to strike. “He’s dead.”
“Wait.”
“He can’t keep breathing.” Lachlan shrugs. “It’s simple. She’s carrying our bloodline and he hurt her. I’ll handle it with Riordan.”
If I don’t say anything, Wes will be in the morgue by sunrise. I grab Lachlan as he goes to walk away.
“Wait. Don’t say anything to Riordan yet. I don’t knowif Brennan cataloged all the sins he’s helped us bury.”
Deep inside, my visceral instinct is the same as Lachlan’s, to gut the fucker. Just not if it will take down my entire family.
Seeing someone suffer on a daily basis always felt more satisfying than murder, and I have the tools to do it. I can hurt Brennan more effectively. Like putting his name on the rotation for random drug tests and then falsifying the records to keep him off the streets.
“You’re putting me in a fucked-up position. I’m already keeping your kid a secret, now this, too?”
“Let me do some surveillance on Brennan first. These guys plant tripwires, Lach. They leave instructions to third parties to deliver evidence if they wind up dead or missing.”
Lachlan thinks about this and finally nods.
“Once I know our family’s clear,thenRior can cut him loose and you can gut him,” I add, knowing that could be just as dangerous for us. “I promise.”
Lachlan pats me on the back and struts to the snack table, where a few little girls shriek in glee at the sight of him. They stand on their chairs and literally jump onto my brother’s back.